Pepe reveals ‘Come to Besiktas’ effect

Portuguese international Pepe had an interview with Besiktas Entrepreneurial Businessmen and Women’s Magazine and gave exclusive answers for their first issue.

Besiktas defender Pepe sat down for an exclusive interview with the magazine and spoke about the effect of the viral “Come to Besiktas” campaign that brought him to the club.

Below is a transcript of the interview:

Besiktas supporters launched the “Come to Besiktas” campaign and it snowballed into an avalanche…

“Yes, that’s what surprised me. I’ve never seen or heard of anything like this before. And it wasn’t just for me, they sent my family the messages. They liked it a lot. Because of this, a good bond has formed between myself and the Besiktas supporters. I had other offers from Italy, England, France and from many other places however the Besiktas fans showed incredible passion for me. When I was playing in the Confederations Cup, that’s when I made up my mind.”

What are your personal goals?

“I aim to stay at Besiktas for a longer period than my two-year contract. If our club and the supporters continue to like me, and I can be useful for the team, I’d like to stay for many more years.”

What about goals as a team?

“This season, we obviously want to be champions. We’ve been champions for the past two season and we want to make it three in a row. We lost points unexpectedly at times but we have the chance to win again. We continue to fight for the Turkish Cup and I think we achieved a significant amount of success in the Champions League this season. We broke a record this year and we shouldn’t overlook that.”

What does it feel like to be a part of Besiktas?

“Besiktas is a big family where people feel like they belong. I am extremely pleased and proud to be a part of this family. Sometimes I feel like a specially chosen person for this reason. Especially the atmosphere in our stadium Vodafone Park, it literally fills me with joy.”

What is the most important feature that distinguishes Besiktas from its opponents?

“Besiktas is not just a club, but a family. That’s what makes it very special. Women, men, kids create a beautiful harmony in the stands. It’s difficult to see this in other clubs.”

Where does “Pepe”, your nickname, come from?

“My parents nicknamed me ‘Pepinya’, ‘Pinya’ because of the difficulty people had pronouncing my name. My first coach called me ‘Pepaon’, actually. ‘Pepaon’ means Big Pepe, in fact. But I didn’t like this at all. With time, ‘Pepe’ stuck and have been using it ever since.”